There seem to be a lot of best cup. Or what kind cups do people buy? But this is about best routines.

I like the Jim Ryan and Dai Vernon routines.

And the David Roth Chop cup routine.

Anyone else?

Man this is a hard one!

I like (and perform) the Michael Skinner "Impromptu Cups and Balls Routine", John Mendoza's brilliant "Sequel to the John Mendoza Cups and Balls Routine (including the actual Mendoza C&B routine), and Irv Weiner's "Non-nesting Cups and Balls" depending on the venue and what I am carrying. I consider the three to be great for small venue and close-up work. I guess for all around amazement my first choice for "best" would be Mendoza's. For totally impromptu I'd rank Skinner's the absolute best.

However for big venues and street work I like Gazzo's routine (a take on Vernon's routine). The Gazzo touch is hard to beat for the big venue performance.

For Chop Cup It is difficult to beat Don Allen's (as outlined by Ron Bauer). But I like/learned Ken Brooke's handling (and love watching Paul Daniels perform it). I'd say that the Brooke version is almost pure Allen with a minor touch or two difference. I learned the Brooke routine first and thought at the time it was the pure Allen routine.

I also like Jim Sisti's "The Working Professional's Chop Cup". Sisti's is pretty much the Allen/Brooke handling with a different patter line (knot making the spectator the foil and taking the sting out of the presentation).

I pretty much do the Brooke version using the Sisti patter idea and with a Mendoza cup (bought from John and an approved item).

Max Maven once said that if you watch any magician perform the cups, odds are over 90% that it's some version of Vernon. When I did a 3 cup routine, it certainly was. I just eliminated the fake exposure sequence. My favorite 3 cup routines are based on his as well....Ammar and Gertner. But if you want a REAL fooler, check out Kent Gunn's with 3 different colored balls. For quite a while I've been wanting to work up a 2 cup routine. I really love Williamson's and Tommy Wonder's.

I agree that Kent Gunn's routine is a real killer! I like it very much and it has a lot going on. It can be found in manuscript form at http://www.lybrary.com.

Two cup routines!! Tommy Wonder, much like Vernon, set a standard that is difficult to beat. That said I still prefer John Ramsey's two cup routine. Ramsey's is less self-contained and I believe has more magic and WOW moments. Garry Oullete's "Golden Goblets" is another excellent routine as is Carl Andrew's "Table Hopping Cups and Balls".

Honestly they are all good and any one of these would be a great routine to perform.

For me the Ramsey two cup routine is arguably the best.

I have evolved my own routine (I have more than one but I am talking about my workers routine) that has 2 new sleights/ handling and a final load sequence. It's been tightened, sanded, tweaked and honed over 15 years. It's now half as long as it started and is very tight. There's also a lot of psychology involved and indirect language patterns.

The tendency to show and demonstrate every move, sleight and sequence I knew held me back for many years. I believe I have reached the point where adding or taking away anything would detract. I think it's at the point where I am happy to stop changing it and work more on the presentation and delivery.

The main features I am most happy about are the fact that I am free of clutter until I want to perform the cups. No pocket loads, nothing in the pockets or around the body and it's always set and ready to go. That was was biggest problem I had to overcome and the solution is something that pleases me greatly.
So, in terms of the best cup routine, it may not be the best, but it's the best for *me* because it's grown and evolved with me for many, many years.

For those who are interested here's my handling of the 0 3 0 sequence...

Very pretty c&bmagic. Thanks for sharing that.

Very nice

C&BM you are spot on when you say that "best" is what you built to work for you. I think "best' is the routine that one uses and garners a good response from. Whatever the start point. I wonder what are your final loads since you don't use pocket loads?

Thank you. You're welcome.

Not many people mention Aldo Colombini's cups and balls, I really liked the rhythm and pace he had with his...

I literally stopped him in his tracks at the Blackpool magic convention one year.

I was walking towards him and I tripped! Yeah, not the kind of "stopping him in his tracks" you expected right! I was only in my teens and I was so embarrassed!

Bri

Thank you Robert

Thanks Harry I can only do my best routine, it's often hard to take on someone else's. That's when we also start to try and become them too. How many people are doing Gazzo's routine word for word...?

Bri

Very nice

Thanks

Any UK magicians might want to PM Brian about the upcoming C&B workshop, on Nov 21st. There is only one place left...

I like the benson bowl routine from Don Alan a lot.

and what about this routine from Richard Ross? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vrdx89Qz0g

Thanks Tomsk192! Indeed there is!

Good point Robert, I like Benson bowl routines in general. Pat Page's is great. Simple and direct. I love Jeff McBrides!

I agree Robert, Richard Ross si wonderful!

Bri

Vazhakunnam Neelakanthan Namboothiri's.

Have yall seen this?!
http://youtu.be/nDoVmlMdyi8

John Ramsay's routine is best.

Johnny Paul's routine is best.

John Mendoza's routine is best.

There is no "best".

But there are definitely a lot of "worsts" or "so-so's."

That wasn't the question.